The Search for Immortality

The elixir of life, a mythical substance from ancient Chinese literature, underpins an enormous industry in modern China. 

‘Putting the miraculous elixir on the tripod’, woodcut from Xingming guizhi (Pointers on Spiritual Nature and Bodily Life), by Yi Zhenren, 1615.
‘Putting the miraculous elixir on the tripod’, woodcut from Xingming guizhi (Pointers on Spiritual Nature and Bodily Life), by Yi Zhenren, 1615.

The dietary supplement market in China is huge. In 2020 nearly 890,000 new enterprises were established, the largest annual increase yet. China has become the world’s second largest consumer of dietary supplement products after the United States and is a major importer of supplements: 12.8 per cent of the dietary supplement products produced in the US are exported to China. 

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